What's New in the FAA

Discounted 2016 NAA Education Conference Registrations Available Now

If you want a motivated, educated, and cohesive team representing your company in the multifamily housing industry, the 2016 NAA Education Conference & Exposition held on June 15-18 in San Francisco is the place to hone your team’s skills and boost your business at the same time.

Management members of the Florida Apartment Association are eligible for a discounted registration fee of $625 to the 2016 NAA Education Conference & Exposition.

FAA Sets Platform, Plans Statehouse Visits

Members of the Florida Apartment Association established four 2016 priorities at their annual legislative platform meeting in October. The annual platform meeting is an opportunity for apartment owners, managers, and other industry professionals to meet and discuss the legislative and regulatory issues that affect their business, and decide on what priorities to pursue in the coming legislative session.

The priorities are to:

Support expansion of repairs certified maintenance professionals are permitted to perform.

Support clarification of renters insurance requirements.

Support full funding of the Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

Oppose landlord-tenant law changes that would create criminal penalties for apartment landlords.

FAA supports Senate Bill 704 and House Bill 535, which expand the allowable repairs maintenance professionals can perform. Apartment communities rely on maintenance professionals to perform a variety of repairs each day, and currently maintenance workers in Florida are restricted from performing many basic repairs to heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and water heating systems. SB 704/HB 535 allow maintenance workers holding a Certificate for Apartment Maintenance Technicians (CAMT) to perform these types of repairs, which are often urgently needed on-site. Hiring a licensed contractor can increase the cost of repairs and result in delays. This bill will allow trained professionals to perform on-site work quickly and safely, while saving apartment owners costly contractor costs.

FAA is working with multiple stakeholders to protect apartment owners and residents by clarifying renters insurance requirements by supporting Senate Bill 342 and House Bill 237.This legislation will allow apartment owners to include lease addendums that would advise residents of the importance of insurance and require them to carry insurance. The clause clarifies that residents and their belongings are not covered by the apartment owner’s insurance policy. By clarifying the law, this legislation will help protect both residents and owners from future legal entanglements.

FAA is committed to full funding of the Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust Fund. FAA is a member of the Sadowski Coalition, a housing advocacy group of 30 business and nonprofit partners in Florida that lobby for affordable housing funding in the state budget annually. In 2015, FAA helped to secure $175 million in funding. Affordable housing funds come from ‘’doc stamp’’ revenue (taxes on real estate transactions) and are distributed by the state in the form of loans. These loans are used to build new housing to serve Florida’s most vulnerable populations — including veterans, senior citizens, people with disabilities, and homeless people — as well as to refurbish aging affordable housing units. According to the Sadowski Coalition, the loans create 32,600 jobs and $4.6 billion in positive economic impact annually. These loans also help to alleviate the need for increased inclusionary zoning measures.

FAA is opposed to Senate Bill 474 and House Bill 053 which would establish criminal penalties for apartment owners and employees who do not meet the maintenance requirements specified in CH 83.51-83.59. SB 474/HB 053 would greatly alter Florida landlord-tenant law by creating criminal penalties, as opposed to civil penalties, for any person who has violated the premises maintenance section of CH 83. If enacted, this legislation would allow a landlord or apartment employee to be charged with a misdemeanor for the first offence and subsequently a felony if standards of annual repairs and pest control are not met.

According to the state Department of Corrections and statute 775.083, a third-degree felony is punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine. A first degree misdemeanor is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000. FAA is committed to keeping criminal penalties for landlords and apartment employees out of landlord-tenant law.

FAA is committed to member-driven advocacy and will continue to monitor any issues affecting the apartment industry in Florida. To learn more about FAA’s priorities and to assist in our grassroots lobbying efforts, please join FAA this January to promote our legislative priorities in Tallahassee. You will have the opportunity to learn more about all of the issues affecting our industry, meet with state lawmakers, and network with your peers.

Legislative Days Registration Is Open

Please join FAA as we travel to Tallahassee for the 2016 Legislative Conference January 26 and 27. Make plans to join your peers and friends from across the state as we team up again for our journey to the state capital. This annual visit is extremely important, as it helps secure our grassroots lobbying base and promote our industry's legislative priorities.

Registration fee of $115 includes the legislative briefing, reception, and dinner with guest speakers. Deadline for the conference registration and hotel room reservations is Wednesday, January 13, 2016.

A Jacksonville nonprofit whose plan to open an apartment building for homeless people alarmed Springfield activists is suing the city for blocking its project.Ability Housing of Northeast Florida argues the city violated the federal Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act by refusing to grant paperwork called a certificate of use for its project. Read more.

CENTRAL FLORIDA

GoldOller Real Estate Investments announced its fourth major acquisition in 2015 with the purchase of the 560 unit Bonita Fountains Apartments in Orlando. GoldOller acquired Bonita Fountains Apartments for $42.75 million and intends to invest substantially in both common area improvements and unit upgrades to enhance this resort-style rental community in Southwest Orlando. Read more.

11/25 Osceola County moves ahead with multifamily housing to help homeless

BAY AREA

12/15 Vintage 1971 Community Wins $48,000 Per Unit

Garden Isles Apartment Homes, a 300-unit multifamily community in Tampa, has traded hands. The sale price: $14.3 million, or about $48,000 a unit. Marcus & Millichap vice president of investments Frank Carriera and first vice president of investments Michael Regan represented the seller, Garden Isles Management. The duo also secured the buyer, Blue Rock Partners.

11/24 Wood Partners Acquires Land for New Luxury Apartment Development in Greater Tampa Area

Wood Partners real estate development and acquisition firm announced that it had closed last month on a 19.32-acre site in southern Hillsborough County where a new luxury apartment community is currently under construction by the developer. Read more.

11/23 5 Tampa-Area Communities Sell in 5 Days for $50 Million

Franklin senior director Kevin Kelleher, managing directors Darron Kattan and Robert Goldfinger, and director Zachary Ames brokered the multifamily deals. According to the company, all of the multifamily communities are located in close to Tampa’s major employment centers and have strong potential for rent growth and added value through capital improvements. Read more.

TRI-CITY AREA

11/23 Approvals sought for multifamily or assisted living facility, offices near Lakewood Ranch

EAST MANATEE -- Developer Carlos Beruff is seeking approvals to build 66,800 square feet of commercial space, and either a 234-bed assisted living facility or 200 units of multifamily housing at Professional Center at Lakewood Ranch, 8945 77th Terrace E. Beruff is seeking to complete construction of a business park started by another developer whose permits expired in 2012. Read more.

SOUTHEAST FLORIDA

Park Partners Residential has announced that the company has been awarded the management of Alta Congress, 250 Congress Park Drive in Delray Beach. Read more.

12/8 Greystar Sells South Florida Property to Blackstone as Part of Portfolio Deal

The nation’s largest apartment operator, Greystar Real Estate Partners, has agreed to sell a 32-property, 10,399-unit multifamily portfolio to New York City–based investment firm Blackstone Group for $2 billion, Multifamily Executive reported. The portfolio consists of a mix of mid-rise, high-rise, and garden-style apartment buildings, with properties located across the country, including the Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, South Florida, New York, and Boston metros. Read more.

11/30 Waterton Buys Fort Lauderdale Apartments for $94M

Waterton, a Chicago-based real estate investor and operator, has acquired Port Royale, a 553-unit garden-style apartment community in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for $94 million from Dallas-based Mill Creek Residential. The property is along the Intracoastal Waterway. Read more.

11/20 2 Miami Communities Sell for $90K-plus per Unit

Located at 2741 and 2749 Southwest 5th Street, the multifamily assets were originally constructed in 1925 and 1927. Juan C. Alarcon, a local investor represented byLuis Osio of Oasis International Realty Group, acquired the assets. Manuel Cruz sold the multifamily properties. Read more.

What's New Nationally

Joe Scarborough to Deliver Keynote at NAA Capitol Conference

Join your peers at the 2016 NAA Capitol Conference and Lobby Day, March 8-9 in Washington, D.C., and help the apartment industry reach all 535 Congressional offices. Itâ€™s the apartment industryâ€™s most ambitious national advocacy event in history.

Your voice truly matters, both as a constituent and a member of the industry who is impacted by the decisions Congress does and does not make.

Every member of Congress needs to understand how the industry works and how their decisions affect your business.Former Florida Rep. Joe Scarborough, the face of MSNBC's Morning Joe, will energize you with his no-holds barred political commentary as the NAA Capitol Conferenceâ€™s keynote speaker on March 8. Pulling from his experience as an influential player in Republican politics, Scarborough will offer a dynamic and fast-paced perspective on the current political and media landscape and the headlines of the day.

Registration is free so why not register today to become an informed, effective, confident advocate and support your industry?

Visit the 2016 NAA Capitol Conference website to learn more and register.

Note: While members of the House will be in recess that week, NAA members can schedule Lobby Day meetings with important key Congressional staff members in Washington and just as importantly schedule meetings with all 100 members of the U.S. Senate, which will be in session.

If you are an employee of an apartment community, management company, or supplier company that is a member of any FAA affiliate, we invite you to set up an online account to:

Become a Member

If you are an employee of an apartment community, management company, or supplier company that is NOT currently a member, we invite you to join one of our 11 local affiliates across the state of Florida:

Your company can become a member of FAA by joining an affiliated apartment association in the location you do business. When you join one of our local affiliates, you automatically become a member of the Florida Apartment Association.